VICTORIA SECRET SHOW CANCELLATION

This week Victoria secret took to headlines to announce that their annual show was cancelled.This past year I've kinda sat back and watched vs go downhill. the amount of controversy that the brand has created through cultural appropriation and lack of diversity kinda made me glad that the brand has stepped down. I think they need to take this time to research into what message they want to put across and look at their brand image. The 2018 show got put under fire when it was labeled "outdated" and "tacky" which certainly showed in the stats as the show only drew in 3.3 millions where as the 2017 show racked up 5 million views. What shocked me the most is that this same year the chief marketing boss Ed Razek made numerous comments about transgender and plus size models. In a vogue interview when asked if he should have transsexuals in the show he recommenced back with "No,No, I don't think we should""well why not? because the show is a fantasy". Seeing his thoughts on topics about trans models and plus size models really annoyed me because I think that with the companies platform they could help create the right awareness for topics like them and put out such a positive message for them.

What also was a massive mess up for the company is how much cultural appreaciation the brand have created. The first time this topic was picked up was 2010 when the show has a section called "wild things" and it included models dressed in animal print bikinis, surrounded by a group of men , both the men and women appeared to be painted in black shapes, lines. this was flagged up as it is said to have resembled indigenous people. There has been something almost every year at their shows where they have created some sort of controversy and something offensive. Whether it's Native American head dresses or a massive traditional Chinese dragon placed a Caucasian model their very problematic. What I don't understand is that there old catwalks shows in the 90s used to be so popular and simple then why the hell did they start to incorporate peoples cultures into their designs. Looking back at their shows in 90s I think the simplicity of the brands image shone through and inspired a lot of viewers at the time.

I think a lot of people are gonna be upset by the show cancellation as its such big tuned in event that's watched all around the world yearly but I think its what's best for them to take a step back and look at creating a show that is yes eye catching and unique but also respectful to other cultures.

EEK! Karlie Koss walks the runway in a feather headdress